The road network designed and built by the Romans to realize their great utopia of power, gave life to a landscape consisting of a broad set of territories and peoples united in their diversity and their distances from the immense road network. Until the eighteenth century the European civilization did not know a road system more efficient than that built by the Roman classical civilization. The survival of the tracks of this extended network represents a constant in most of the Mediterranean basin. The great utopia of Ancient Rome to govern the whole world had its ratio in its road network as the impressive road network exceeding 120,000 km, linked most of Europe extending to the Mediterranean basin. Although the great utopian dream of ruling the world was finally broken by the descent of the Germans which took place right thanks to so well conceived roads, still we perceive and live this great utopia. The suggestion of this great utopia is returned to us in Northern Campania by ancient traces being discernible in the sites of archaeological interest that discretely arise to guard the historical memory.
The Appian Way today, vestige of a Great Utopia
cirillo clelia;giovanna acampora;marina russo
2013
Abstract
The road network designed and built by the Romans to realize their great utopia of power, gave life to a landscape consisting of a broad set of territories and peoples united in their diversity and their distances from the immense road network. Until the eighteenth century the European civilization did not know a road system more efficient than that built by the Roman classical civilization. The survival of the tracks of this extended network represents a constant in most of the Mediterranean basin. The great utopia of Ancient Rome to govern the whole world had its ratio in its road network as the impressive road network exceeding 120,000 km, linked most of Europe extending to the Mediterranean basin. Although the great utopian dream of ruling the world was finally broken by the descent of the Germans which took place right thanks to so well conceived roads, still we perceive and live this great utopia. The suggestion of this great utopia is returned to us in Northern Campania by ancient traces being discernible in the sites of archaeological interest that discretely arise to guard the historical memory.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.